The Flag Still Stands
by viper676
Summary: Thanks for your reviews. New content up. WE SHALL NEVER FORGET.
1. Default Chapter

A/N: Before I begin this story, I'd like to make a simple request of all you readers. I'm sure you all know what the September 11th disaster was, how it occurred, what the aftermath was, and maybe even the number of gallons of burning jet fuel that caused the Twin Towers to collapse. Now for the request: Think back, to when you first found out what was happening or were able to get the gist of it. What were your feelings? Anger? Shock? Fear? What was your immediate reaction? Why am I asking this? So if any of my characters seem to be a bit…out of character, or don't seem to react correctly, I can fix it. Thank you your cooperation…oh, and it's not mandatory. But I _would _like to put up a longer, better version 2 of this story. Anyways…on with it!

A/N (again): Nita and Kit are both fourteen, and this, I guess, takes place just before A Wizard's Dilemma. So, I'm shutting up now.

Nita Callahan was wakened rudely by a door slamming shut. Namely, _her_ door, which Dairine had just stomped out of, her attempt to wake Nita with a bucketful of water foiled, it seemed, by her mother, judging by the angry yelling out in the hall.

"It's a Tuesday off school, for god's sake, Dairine! She deserves her rest…besides, she started jogging the other week, and that pretty much kills her. So leave her alone! Y'know, sometimes, I wonder how much common sense you have…"

Nita rubbed her eyes and looked at the LCD clock on her nightstand: 7:29 in the morning, though sunlight was already streaming into her room through the open bedroom window. She closed her eyes and let her head flop back onto the pillow. Her mom was right. She was dead on her feet…

"Boo."

Nita gasped and instinctively pulled the bedsheet up to her shoulders, even though she was already clad in a loose-fitting NYPD T-shirt and jeans. She caught sight of the intruder and flung two pillows at him in rapid succession.

"Kit Rodriguez! What the heck…you scared me!"

Her best friend and longtime wizarding partner, Kit had just had his fourteenth birthday, as well as what seemed to be an overnight 3-inch growth spurt. Brushing dark hair out of his mischievous eyes, he grinned at her, ducking one pillow and skillfully batting aside the other.

"Duh. Whaddya think I was _trying_ to do, genius?"

Nita flung another pillow at him. It missed him entirely and nearly went out the window.

"Don't do that, alright? Especially when I'm sleeping…" 

Kit produced a Polaroid photo from his pocket.

"Yeah, way ahead of you. You look so…"

Nita clapped a hand over her eyes in exasperation.

"Oh, god, Kit, when will you _ever_ learn…"

"What?"

"Don't let your guard down."

Nita swiftly flung another pillow at him, and as he dodged that one, agilely plucked the photo from between his fingers and fled.

He caught her before she'd gone ten steps. Wrapping his arms around her in a bear hug, he tickled her until she had to stifle a scream. He retrieved the photo from on top of her bed and plopped down in a chair, tired for the moment. Nita merely collapsed facedown on the bed, saying, "Kit, go away for a few seconds."

"Why?"

"Because I've got to change, you _twit_."

"Oh…"

Kit blushed, retreating quickly. He vanished with a small _pop_, probably going to the refrigerator. 

Nita changed quickly into a Chevy T-shirt and another pair of jeans, then went into the kitchen, where Kit was already eating pancakes with her mom and Dairine.

He caught sight of Nita and raised his eyebrows in greeting. She punched him lightly, then went to go see what she could do with some pancakes. 

Kit forked down his last swallow and sighed contentedly.

"Mmm. Thanks, Miz Callahan."

"No problem, Kit. Hey, you gotta be nice to my daughter's future husband…"

"_Mom_…" Nita groaned.

Ms. Callahan laughed.

"Okay, okay, I was teasing. But you two… you're not…"

"_No, mom_."

"Okay, okay, just making sure. Oh, Nita, why don't you…"

Nita's mom raised her eyebrows at Kit, then looked meaningfully at Nita, fingering her necklace. Nita cringed, patted Kit on the shoulder, and left with a brief, "I'll be right back…"

She returned with a handsome wooden box and shyly presented it to Kit, who stared at her, swallowing his mouthful of pancakes.

"For _me_?"

"Well…duh. Who else within eighty yards of this place is called Kit?"

Kit cracked the box open and lifted out a wonderfully crafted necklace of what appeared to be steel and wood. But if one looked closer, one would realize that neither the steel nor the wood were from this planet. He turned it over in wonder and disbelief, then asked Nita incredulously, "How long did it take to make this?"

She blushed crimson.

"Not too long…"

Dairine piped up impudently.

"Two weeks, by herself. She hardly ate or slept during that whole time…"

Nita glared at her, then went dark red as Kit asked, "Wow…is that true…?"

"W-well…uh…um…sort of…she's not right in the amount of dine…_time_…I put into it…"

Nita's mom smiled wryly.

"You're right, she's not. It was three weeks."

Nita's mouth worked soundlessly, then Kit helped absorb some of that by saying, "Hey, Nita…? A bit of help here?"

She hurried over and nervously fastened the clasp behind his neck.

"D'you like it?"

Kit enveloped her in a very gentle, loving hug.

"Oh, boy, do I ever, Neets," he whispered into her ear. "I'm gonna find a few charms to put into this… thank you_ so_ much, I don't know how I'm gonna repay you."

"Oh, Kit, you don't have to…"

"Yes I do, and you're going to take it."

Nita's mom laughed.

"That's what I like to see. Nita, good testing. Kit, good answer. Carry on."

Nita and Kit both flushed slightly, then turned back to their conversation.

"Anyways, if you're gonna repay me, it doesn't have to be soon. Anytime's good."

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

"Oh, here we go again…"

They hugged again, then Nita broke away.

"Mom? Can we…Kit and I…take a walk kind of quickly? I…"

"Sure, honey. Stay safe."

"We will."

Kit checked his watch as Nita pulled him up to the Chambers/West intersection at 8:53 and 56 seconds. He sighed.

"Remind me again what we're doing?"

Nita rolled her eyes.

"You'll see when we get there. Until then, shut up, will you?"

Kit made a face at her turned back, and almost had the forethought to duck. Note the almost. So good were Nita's reflexes that she was able to pitch her stuffed baseball at his head before he could even think to move. Which obviously brings us to what we hear next.

_Bap._

"Ow…"

Kit staggered as the baseball bounced off his forehead at close to 20 miles an hour. Nita caught it as it rolled back to her and grinned smugly at Kit, who was leaning against a newspaper rack for support.

"Nita Callahan… when I get my hands on you, I'm gonna…"

Nita never really found out what he was going to do, as most of the rest of what would have been a rather rude comment was drowned out by the roar of a jetliner passing overhead.

"…and when I'm done with that, I'm gonna…"

Nita watched the plane curiously.

_Isn't that guy flying a bit low…?_ she thought.__

She followed the plane's intended course and, seeing its target, went completely white.

"Oh my god…" she gasped.

She heard Kit's disbelieving voice behind her.

"Oh, _no_…no…"

As if it were in slow motion, they watched the plane correct itself and zero in on the glittering steel-and-glass surface of the North Tower of the World Trade Center, intent on destruction. Nita felt a chill run down her spine as she watched in horror.

With an earsplitting crash, the plane broke through the surface of the Trade Center and erupted in a huge fireball as its thick, bulbous nose shattered the glass on the opposite side of the tower. It had penetrated the whole way through. Nita staggered back and collapsed into Kit's arms, shocked at the suddenness of it all.

"_Oh my god…_" she breathed. "Kit, that wasn't an accident!"

Kit watched the black smoke billow into the crisp, bright blue morning sky, and felt a cold fury start to build up inside of him.

"No…it wasn't…" he said, not daring to look at her face.

They watched, wide-eyed, as police cruisers, ambulances, and fire trucks roared past, the cruisers dodging traffic as they careened at 130 mph toward the burning tower. 

Nita stared in horror.

"Kit…this can't be _happening_…" she cried. "This is _America_…it's just…_impossible_!"

Kit closed his eyes, unwilling to see any more. He sent a thought message to Tom, and was shocked to see that he was still at home.

_Tom?!_

_Hey, Kit. What's new?_

_Open your windows!_

A pause, and then Kit distinctly heard Carl swear in the background.

_Ah, @$%#. Kit, what the hell happened out there?_

_A plane just hit the North Tower…_

_Oh, _now_ they tell us._

_What?_

_Not you, the radio. They just informed us that 'the hijacked Boeing 767 from Boston has slammed into the North Tow-…_

_Wait. _Hijacked_?!!_

_Yeah. Hijacked. Where on Earth are you?_

_Corner…corner of Chambers and West. Get down he-…_

With a loud _bang_, Carl and Tom stood before them, looking up in shock at the horrifying spectacle. Tom, not taking his eyes off the tower, told Kit, "There's gonna be another one. Maybe two."

"_What?_"

"About ten minutes before you contacted me, there was a report of another plane hijacked. What time did this take place?"

"Uh…about eight forty-five."

Tom and Carl exchanged glances.

"Two minutes after…this is all some sort of _plan_…" Tom said, hardly daring to believe it.

"Shut up, and let's go work on this. Okay?"

"And if the tower collapses?"

"We've got shields. Move you idiot…!"

They were gone. Somewhere out in the distance, a clock tower rang its huge, brazen bell nine times.

Nine o'clock.

Minutes later, Nita paled as she caught the terrifying sound of jet engines roaring somewhere in the distance. 

"No…_no…_" she screamed, near hysterics now.

They were powerless to stop it, short of throwing a shield spell 110 stories high over the whole tower, which would have certainly killed the caster. Kit and Nita could only watch in helpless horror as the second plane corrected, veering to the left and plowing directly into the north side of the slightly damaged South Tower. Glass and steel flew everywhere in a horrific replica of what had happened just minutes before. Both towers were on fire now; spewing a thick black column of smoke into the air to the horrified shouts and screams from the onlookers. 

Nita winced as Kit's hand tightened around hers in a vicelike grip. She looked up at him, his face white and full of fury, his hand shaking uncontrollably as it tightened even more. Nita elbowed Kit gently, not knowing how he'd react. As it was, he looked at her, a fire she'd seldom seen before burning behind his eyes.

"What?" he snapped sharply.

"Could you please _ease up_?" Nita said in a strained voice. "Before you turn my hand into a blob of jelly…"

Kit let go and resumed his stare toward the Trade Towers. His usually calm brown eyes burned with an untold anger at the hijackers of the two planes, frustration at the hopelessness of the situation, agony at the sight of his homeland under fire, and fear that more might be to come. Nita kept one eye on the towers, one on Kit, unsure of what was going to happen next, and afraid of what Kit's reaction would be. As it was, Kit managed to calm himself down, and grabbed her arm.

"C'mon, Nita. Those towers aren't gonna stay up for much longer…hold 'em up as long as we can."

Nita obliged willingly, not wanting to be the next victim of Kit's wrath.

_Thirty-nine minutes and several more wizard arrivals later_

Kit joined hands with Nita, Nita with Tom, Tom with Carl, and so on and so forth until Aunt Annie took Nita's hand once more. Each wizard would hone their power to the maximum, then each contribute some to keeping both towers standing and whole, if not still showering flaming debris. The whole process would take about fifteen minutes. Carl looked up at the North Tower.

"Hurry…" he urged. "We don't have much time…"

No one needed further obligation.

Dairine, who Nita and Kit had found keeping watch on the temperature levels in both towers via Spot, started off with her part. Closing her eyes, she took a breath and began. Nita was able to understand most of the syllables, but lost her younger sister on some of the more complex ones.

_How does she know all this?_ she wondered.

Dairine paused for breath, then blurted out the final eighteen syllables. The spell took, and drained Dairine completely. Dairine staggered and collapsed outside the circle, sweating and breathing hard. Carl panicked.

"_Don't let the circle break_!" he yelled as one wizard bent down to help her. The wizard stood back up and hoisted Dairine to her feet, where her head lolled forward, unconsciousness taking merciful hold of her. One down. Eighteen to go. Carl started his, and Tom followed suit not long afterwards. A few foreign wizards did their parts, and Aunt Annie began hers. Nita closed her eyes, her heart pounding, and swallowed as Kit's voice of thought broke into her mind.

_Nita…I'll back you up. We're in this together._

Nita smiled wryly and squeezed his hand.

_You bet. Got any possible turbochargers?_

 Kit rolled his eyes.

_Oh yeah. Fury._

Nita barely had time to wince before Annie finished her rendition. Nita and Kit were the last ones in the circle to recite their spell. Nita felt Kit's reassuring touch, and she closed her eyes, beginning her recital in harmony with Kit.

As the spell progressed, Nita felt herself growing weaker and weaker, the energy and power in her being sucked out to add to the contributions of the others. Without warning, the world suddenly swam before her eyes, and everything blurred. Kit's mindvoice dimly reached her fogged senses.

_Finish the spell, Nita, finish the spell…!_

Nita gasped out the last few syllables, then she was dimly aware of Kit supporting her weakly as she collapsed. His voice was the last thing she heard before she passed out.

"Nita…you okay…."

She opened her eyes hours later in her darkened bedroom. Kit was sitting in her easy chair next to her bed, his head drooped in sleep. Nita smiled slightly, despite herself. He looked so cute…

She squeezed her eyes shut, mentally telling her romantic part of her mind to kindly shut up. It didn't. She sighed, uncertain of what to do next. Spotting her small spherical pillow on the far side of the room, she grinned wickedly.

Kit rubbed his eyes, efficiently deflecting Nita's next shot with one arm.

"You know how long you were out?"

Nita narrowed her eyes at him.

"How long?"

Kit held up an envelope.

"Long enough for me to take as many Polaroids as I need for blackmail."

Nita made an indignant noise and fired the pillow straight at his head. He ducked, and it barely grazed the top of his head.

"Missed…"

He dodged the teddy bear Nita flung at him and laughed.

"Boy, is your aim off today or what…?"

The flying cat hit him in the chest with such force that it knocked him full over. Nita leaped on him and pummeled every inch of his body.

"My aim's off, huh?"

Kit was pinned against the floor, with nowhere to go. Nita was about to make some smart remark when a voice sounded in the doorway.

"Kiss him."

Nita's head snapped around as Dairine smirked maliciously, her tiny frame silhouetted in the early evening light. 

"_What_?"

"Kiss him," Dairine repeated. "You can't be in a much better position…"

Nita glanced down at Kit, who tried hard not to blush as he tried to keep his gaze focused on Dairine.

"Go on," Dairine laughed. "No need to be shy…"

Nita glared at her.

"Well. Look who's talking. Miss I-won't-kiss-my-boyfriend-in-public-at-all."

Dairine flushed redder than her hair.

"Fine then. A dare for a dare. You first, then you can watch me."

Nita scoffed at her.

"You aren't gonna do it."

Dairine's gaze narrowed.

"On my word and my honor."

Nita smiled wryly.

"Fine. Kit?"

"What?"

"Come here."

Kit nervously leaned up, and Nita, impatient, leaned forward and met his lips. 

Emotions suddenly flowed between them, jumping and crackling like electricity. Nita's feelings flowed into Kit's body as the kiss deepened, became more passionate. He couldn't think straight, what with all the options of what to do next that shot through his mind.

Nita sighed into the kiss, highly content with what she was experiencing. With Ronan's kiss, she'd felt like there was something missing…something important. She had that something now. It just so happened to go by the name of Kit Rodriguez.

Nita's hair slipped down and fluttered into Kit's face. He twitched and opened his eyes, locking gazes with Nita. He sighed and gently broke the kiss. Nita was pink, and apparently was incoherent, stumbling over some nonsense words before Kit kissed her again, a gentle peck to the lips this time.

"It's done, Nita. It's Dairine's turn."

Nita turned expectantly to her sister, who flushed, muttered something about 'not expecting them to get this far', and yelled "RYAN!" out into the hall.

There was the sound of someone running up the stairs, and redheaded Ryan McAllister walked into the room, exchanging high-fives with Kit. He was two years younger than Kit, and his next-door neighbor, which was how Dairine and Ryan had gotten involved in the first place. It's a long story.

Dairine put her arm around Ryan, explaining the situation to him. Ryan raised an eyebrow at Kit, who grinned. Pointing at Dairine and Ryan, Kit planted a quick kiss on Nita's lips, who blushed and gave him a gentle push as he grinned and nodded at the look on Ryan's face.

Ryan turned back to Dairine just in time to meet her lips as they came into contact with his cheek. Instead of an innocent peck on the cheek, Dairine found herself locking lips with Ryan. She flushed, but let herself sink into the kiss, and was soon lost in it. Nita put an arm around Kit.

"Let's go. They won't notice us."

Nita stopped dead on the porch, gazing at the smoke billowing up into the early evening air. Everything came back to her in a rush. The terror, the agony of that day… the events of what happened that day… it all came back.

She cringed and instinctively turned and retreated to Kit, who put his arm around her and gazed at where the smoke plumed up into the sky.

"It's gone," he said simply. And nothing more.


	2. Proud to Be an American

Chapter 2

Conflicting Viewpoints

A/N: Ok. Before I get slapped with any lawsuits, let me make a few things clear.

 #1. **I DO NOT OWN THE YOUNG WIZARDS NOVEL SERIES. They are the work of the fantastic Diane Duane. I'm just the lowly guy that bases his fanfic on them.**

#2. **NOR DO I OWN THE COPYRIGHT LAWS OR THE LYRICS TO ANY OF THE SONGS FEATURED IN THIS CHAPTER. THEY ARE THE WORK OF THEIR WONDERFUL ARTISTS DARRYL WORLEY AND ALAN JACKSON. **

And #3. Thanks SO much for all of your FANTASTIC reviews. Yeah… I could not believe what I heard at 8:30 Pacific time… standing in the schoolyard of my elementary school… going numb with shock as I realized what I had heard was not some kid's idea of funny. It was real. Which is what inspired me…

#4. I'll shut up now.

K. ONE song is gonna be in Bold. The other… in Italics.

NOW I'll shut up.

_Where were you when the World stopped Turning_

_On that September Day?_

_Were you in New York with your wife and children_

_Or working on some stage in LA?_

Nita lifted her face from her hands and stared at the smoke pluming up into the air, backdropped against a fantastically blue sky. She watched the dark gray plume curl lazily through the air, and cringed at the memories brought back in a rush of emotion. 

People screaming.

The awful, metallic roar of a jetliner as it zeroed in on its target.

The crunch and shattering of impact.

The roar from a raging fireball.

Sirens.

Someone. Please. Make it stop.

_Did you stand there in shock at the sight of that black smoke?_

_Rising against that blue sky?_

_Did you shout out in anger and fear for your neighbors_

_Or did you just sit down and cry?_

Shock. Utter shock.

The anger and fear in her best friend's eyes.

The horror.

The pain of losing hundreds of thousands of lives.

The sickening feeling that there were hundreds trapped beneath the rubble.

_Did you weep for the children who lost their dear loved ones_

_Pray for the ones who don't know?_

_Did you rejoice for the people who walked from the rubble?_

_And sob for the ones left below?_

_Did you burst out with pride for the Red, White, and Blue_

_And the heroes who died just doing what they do._

_Did you look up to heaven for some kind of answer_

_And look at yourself and what really matters._

The clearest memories Nita had of her actions that day were gazing up at the sky, through eyes filled with tears, and asking, "Why America? _Why?_" 

Someone laid a hand on her shoulder, and she felt the swing rock in a familiar pattern. Without looking up, she muttered, "Hey, Kit."

There was silent, then Kit's arms folded around her.

"It's not the New York skyline any more."

Nita sniffed.

"Yeah… well… we have each other."

Kit was quiet, his arms still around Nita.

He pulled back abruptly.

"You heard on the news the other day?"

"What?"

"We're going to war."

"_What?_"

**I hear people saying**

**We don't need this war.**

**But I say there's some things **

**Worth fighting for.**

"We're going to war."

"You're kidding! Oh, _god…_ Kit, do you know how many _lives_ that's gonna cost us?"

**What about our freedom?**

**And this piece of ground?**

**We didn't get to keep 'em**

**By backin' down.**

"Look, Neets. You see this land your house is standing on? How did we acquire that land?"

"We fought for it…"

"Exactly! _These people have violated our freedom._ So now we're going to show them what happens when you mess with the USA."

"Kit, look! It's a _stupid_ decision. We'll lose…. I don't know _how_ many lives!"

**Now they say we don't realize**

**The mess we're getting in**

**Before you start your preachin' let me ask you this my friend….**

**  
**

"Nita… look. Why don't you want to go to war with whoever's behind this?"

"Because my cousin is in the Army. And he's gonna go with the Army. I don't… don't want to lose him."

Kit was quiet.

**Have you forgotten?**

**How it felt that day?**

**To see your homeland under fire**

**And her people blown away**

**Have you forgotten?**

**When those towers fell?**

**We had neighbors still inside**

**Going through a living hell…**

Kit chose his words carefully, knowing one wrong word would send them down into a huge fight.  

"Nita… I just… have different opinions. And so do you. But let me ask you this… Uhhh… have you already forgotten what it felt like… five days ago… _how_ you felt?"

Nita whirled on him.

"Are you saying that I'm _insensitive _to what happened on the eleventh?"

Kit swore at himself.

"Nonononono… not at all…"

Nita relaxed, but kept her eyes on him.

"Fine. Well, Kit. That's fine. I just don't agree with your opinion. At all."

Kit struggled to maintain his temper, and succeeded.

"Fine."

They stared coolly at one another, then huffily returned to something: Nita a book; Kit staring at the plume of smoke, the atmosphere between them decidedly cool.

A/N: Ah... the end of another chapter. Which means work for both of us: Me writing the next one, you writing reviews. Keep 'em coming! Thankx, and I'll be updating Chased Down soon.

Where Were You lyrics © 2001-2004, Alan Jackson & his recording company.

Have You Forgotten lyrics © 2002-2004 Darryl Worley and his recording company.


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